Spirited Away: Returning Home
by Words You Wield
Summary: Its Been Two Years Since Chihiro left the spirit world and she hasnt gotten a sign from Haku...What will happen when she decides to return?...Will Chihiro be remembered, or left in the dust?
1. Ch1 On Her Way

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Spirited Away or any characters from it**

**Welcome!! This is My First Fan Fiction..and I have a Fruits Basket one on the way if anyone wants to know. ;**

**as you can probably already tell...im a bit crazy..but whatever..just watch out if Ive warned you about sugar..its bad for me XX**

**Well...Read now!! what are you waiting for??**

**_'thinking'_**

**"speaking"**

**doing**

**A/N**

* * *

_'It's been two years since I left the spirit world.. I miss them all, I miss Haku the most. Why hasn't he came. Or sent me a sign?? Something, anything would do!_' Chihiro, now 12, thinks from a ledge on her window.

Every day at sunset she would sit at her window, and stare in the direction of the tunnel to the spirit world, debating going back. School would be out of school soon for summer break, that's the ideal time to go.

Chihiro had matured over the past 2 years, both physically, and a bit mentally. She had gotten taller, her hair was longer, and... Well… the normal things that happened to developing girls.. she still put her hair up every day in the same hair tie her friends made for her while she was in the spirit "this is all I have left of the spirit world..and my memories" Chihiro tells herself

"Chihiro! Time for dinner" Her mothers calls. Chihiro returns with an "okay!" before watching the sunset..and going downstairs to eat

* * *

**The Next Day**

_'this is killing me…when will the teacher let us go?'_ Chihiro thinks, mentally pacing, staring at the clock.

Since it was the last day before school was out for summer, they got out earlier than usual. Kids all over her classroom were itching to go home, to swim, hike, sleep in, and stay up late. But, not Chihiro, she just wanted to see if it still worked, if she could still go to the bathhouse in the spirit world. _'three, two, one, yes!!'_ The bell rang and everyone ran out the door to go home and go wild with their friends.

Chihiro took a mad dash for home, although her legs were still thin and she still looked scrawny, she was pretty fast. "So the track team _did_ pay off" Chihiro tells herself while running home.

When she approaches the blue house, she doesn't stop, Chihiro just runs in, only to be stopped by her father, "Where's the fire?" he asks, smirking slightly

"well,uhh," Chihiro's Mind raced for an excuse "later today… around 7 I'm going with my friend to her house in the mountains for the summer, and im really excited.. so, I'm going to go pack. Bye!" She yells before racing up the stairs and into the room

While packing, Chihiro was thinking things over, talking to herself, "okay, so.. the sun will go down around 7, so I should leave around 6:30 if I want to make it in time before the lake fills. From then I can find Kamajii and Rin, but then Ill have to visit Yubaaba." She tells herself…surprising herself quite a bit that the first thing to do wasn't to find Haku.

_'oh well… time to go'_ Chihiro thinks, flinging her small bag over her shoulder and running outside and down the stairs, "I'm going early see you later bye!" she yells in one breath, fast too. Then she was gone, running down the path and going towards the forest, before falling down in "waaAAaaAAaaAAhh!!" she yells, before stopping and standing up, brushing off her jean shorts and her large red shirt. "Okay Chihiro…calm down, and pay attention" she tells herself, before starting to run again, nearing the tunnel that will take her to the spirit world..

* * *

**I hope that was okay..I know it was short XX... But Ill update soon too!**

**I have NO plot whatsoever yet...so ideas( and reviews (; ) would be most appreciated**

**next chapter should have Rin, Yubaaba, Kumajii, Haku..everyone if I feel like it ;**

**See You Soon!**


	2. Ch2 Im Home!

**WOW!! Thanks for the reviews everyone its much appreciated…sorry for the delay**

**My hamster died yesterday ): but I'm fine now**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Spirited Away" or any of Miyazaki-sama's work (what a shame ;-; )**

_**'thinking'**_

**"Speaking"**

**Doing**

**(A/N)**

**NOW!! Lets get the ball rolling!!**

**Chapter 2**

**I'm Home**

* * *

Chihiro continued to run, not looking back, she did trip a few times though and skin a knee… but that wasn't stopping her _'I've got to hurry!'_ she think, the sun sinking lower by the minute.

Chihiro approaches the tunnel that would take her to the lake. She stops for a minute to catch her breath before running through the tunnel "I've got to hurry or the lake will fill and I wont be able to go today!" she tells herself.

Zipping through the room, Chihiro stops to take her time at the lake, seeing she has time and not wanting to fall _'almost there…'_ she thinks, panting from all the running and trying to not slip on the rocks.

Once she gets out, Chihiro get to her knees and catches her breath "I've got… to find … food" she says quietly, looking around for a bush or tree or something with food _'aha!'_ she thinks, spotting a small bush with berries. She crawls over and picks one and eats it before disappearing, making a face at the bitterness.

Chihiro gets up and looks around "its exactly how I remember it" she tells herself in awe… making her way towards the bridge as the lanterns slowly lit up. Chihiro walks over it, this time not holding her breath she was greeted by many familiar faces, and even some unfamiliar ones. "umm, hi… hello" Chihiro says uncertainly, although smiling pleasantly. Eventually, she makes it to the bathhouse but takes a sharp turn to the side, making her way to the boiler room to see Kumajii.

As soon as she got in there, the susuwatari (soot balls) greeted her, jumping up and squeaking, before throwing the coal in the fire and returning to her "heh, hi" Chihiro greets, before taking her shoes off, and letting the susuwatari take them… then she makes her way over to kamajii, who was busily working away. "I came here to get a job!" she says, although only kidding

Kumajii didn't even glance over "no jobs here… I've got plenty of help" he says, although Chihiro just kept going "please give me a job!" she yells again…. This time Kamajii looked over "Sen!" he greets happily "Welcome back!" he says

"Thanks Kumajii" Chihiro says, letting her being called Sen pass, besides, its not like he knew. Rin soon entered "Kumajii! What'd I tell you about your bowl—Sen!" She yells, dropping the susuwatari's food. She gives Kumajii his food before going over to the girl and squeezing her tightly.

"Youre..gonna…suffocate me" Chihiro said, her eyes bulged. But Rin soon let go "sorry…but welcome back! When did you get back? How are you? Have you seen Haku yet?" She asks, picking up the small wooden basket and feeding the soot balls, them gladly taking the star shaped candies.

Chihiro blinks, thinking a minute before answering "Not long ago, great, and not yet" She answers, looking at Rin. "Well you need to go see Yubaaba, shell probably give you a job again." Rin says, dragging Chihiro with her through the small sliding door, "you remember the way right?". Chihiro nods "yep… Ill see you later!" she yells, running off to the elevator.

It took many elevators, but she made it without too much hassle. Chihiro had spotted Bou roaming the bathhouse and telling stories to entertain the guests, but she decided not to bother him and the still-tiny Yu-bird as they went along._ 'Hmm… ah! There it is'_ Chihiro thinks, approaching the large double doors. This time she knocked, but was still pulled in by the same force as last time.

"I want a job" Chihiro said before Yubaaba could turn around. "No. We don't need the help of a –Se—or.. Chihiro!" Yubaaba says upon turning around "Welcome back my dear" she says, "How have you been? It's been 2 years since you last visited us" The old woman says, seeming more pleasant

This took Chihiro but surprise, but she ignored it "Hi. I've been fine too. And yes, I know it had been two years" she says. "Why didn't you visit? We all missed you, including myself" Yubaaba says simply, sitting down

Chihiro just tries to think of something "I'm… Not really sure why.. But, you missed me?" she asks, gaining a nod from Yubaaba. "Well, my sister and I are on better terms, and although you caused by a lot of money in damage," she says, Chihiro sunk in her chair from guilt, "I still seemed to miss a little human running around. And business seemed to just get better ever since your arrival… so I've made money for repairs and more!"

Chihiro laughs a bit at her happiness at the fact she made lots of money. "Oh yes… what was the reason you came to see me?" Yubaaba asks, remembering Chihiro came here and asked something… Chihiro answers, "I want a job here… for the summer if that's alright" she says uncertainly.

"Of course its alright.. I can always use more help.. But, you'll still be working with Rin" Yubaaba answers, whipping out the contract for Chihiro to sign. Chihiro read the contract carefully before signing, "Do I have a new name?" she asks. Yubaaba just laughs "of course not! Why would I do that?" she asks, gaining a bright smile from Chihiro, "I suppose you'll be wanting to see Haku now..?" she asks, eyeing Chihiro slyly. Chihiro looks away "Is he still your apprentice?" she asks. "No… he broke it not long after you left. But he couldn't go back to the real world since his lake had been cemented over" Yubaaba explains simply, looking out her window, "he still does simple tasks for me though... Since cleaning would be an easy task for him to do".

"When… when can I see him?' Chihiro asks, kind of quietly. "Whenever you'd like. I'm guessing you'd like to see him now..?" She half asks, sliding her eyes over to look at Chihiro, she nods. "Alright," Yubaaba says, dropping al smiling and putting on a now-serious face "HAKU!!!" she yells, looking at the door, waiting for the boy to enter. Chihiro stood and turned around to face the door.

"Yes?" Haku asks upon entering, not really looking towards Chihiro. "Show our new employee around, then to Rin, because that's who shell be working with" yubabaa says simply, smirking a bit and turning again to face the window. "Yes Yubaaba" Haku answers before shifting his glance towards Chihiro, he froze, "Chi… Chihiro?" he asks, eyes wide

* * *

**Bwahahaha… how evil can I be? (Not very) but anyways..I hope this was long enough..Review please!**


	3. Ch3 Reunited

I'm being slow lately... many apologies TT I had writers block TT

Turns out my hamster died.. He was 2 ½ though

Otherwise.. I'm fine (Except my eczema ;; )

To shamanbabe- rushed?? Oh, .. I'm sorry ; I wasn't trying to make it seem rushed… what part seemed rushed?? And.. thanks I'm thankful you told me.. Otherwise I wouldn't have known.. now I cant get even BETTER! ( ..; )

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Spirited Away" or any of Miyazaki-Sama's work (what a shame ;-; )**

'_**Thinking'**_

"**Speaking"**

**Doing**

**(A/N)**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**(Re-Cap of last chapter)**

"When… when can I see him?' Chihiro asks, kind of quietly. "Whenever you'd like. I'm guessing you'd like to see him now..?" She half asks, sliding her eyes over to look at Chihiro, she nods. "Alright," Yubaaba says, dropping al smiling and putting on a now-serious face "HAKU!!!" she yells, looking at the door, waiting for the boy to enter. Chihiro stood and turned around to face the door.

"Yes?" Haku asks upon entering, not really looking towards Chihiro. "Show our new employee around, then to Rin, because that's who shell be working with" yubabaa says simply, smirking a bit and turning again to face the window. "Yes Yubaaba" Haku answers before shifting his glance towards Chihiro, he froze, "Chi… Chihiro?" he asks, eyes wide.

Chapter 3

Reunited

* * *

Chihiro froze fore a moment, before smiling "Hi Kohaku!" she says, not sure what else to do. '_I don't want to seem like I'm way too happy to see him, he might freak out… but I don't want it to seem like I don't care'_ she thinks

Haku just stared, unsure of wether to believe it. Somehow, Yubaaba and Rin had become friends, so they decided to mess with Haku.. but the same girl that was 10 years old showed up, instead of an older one. But the girl was a yuna in disguise, nothing more. But no, this…this was an older, 12 year old Chihiro; the one that uncovered his name, and called him by it, not many others knew his actual name.

"Close your mouth and lead our new employee to Rin" Yubaaba says simply, glancing back. That caused haku to close his mouth and turn "yes, follow me" he says before walking, how was he supposed to react in front of Yubaaba.

Chihiro just blinks and simply follows Haku, following behind him a bit.

Most of the walk was silent and tense, Chihiro wanted to say stuff but she wasn't sure what… how Haku would reply, or anything. _'Did he seem shocked out of surprise, gladness, dread, what?!'_ she thinks, trying to think of the possibilities.. But before she could say anything, Haku stopped, so she stopped also.

"I'm sorry" Haku says simply. "For what?" Chihiro asks, walking up to Haku "you didn't do anything" she says

"No.. I didn't.. I didn't go, and I promised I would see you" Haku says, not wanting to look at her. Chihiro blinks "its alright!" she says, "Yubaaba explained that you couldn't, since your river was cemented over"

Haku sighs of relief "I'm still sorry though" he says. "It's not your fault… and I told you, it's alright" Chihiro says, smiling

I'm sorry it took so long at it was so short. I wasn't sure how fast I wanted to take this… reviews?? ADVICE??

Ill update soon.. Just review .-


	4. Ch4 A Short Meeting

**Why hello there all! Im going to try what sheeta-33 said because I like the way he/she(?) thinks!! Yes…those details will come later**

**Wow…..such a delay XX almost a week had gone by and only a paragraph was done..ill be working hard now because suspense sucks… sorta ;**

**I was at my friends for days… she doesn't have a computer so that doesn't help. I fell like a writer, with dead lines, although I never follow them ; oh well…enough complaining**

**Another short chapter..so sorry..i feel so bad. Also, ill be gone from 1/23-1/28 in las Vegas on vacation…but ill write there in my notebook. Then ill have a NICE LOOONG chapter for yous guys**

**MaNgA-bOy-LoVeR- I know they were in love XX but I wasn't sure how I wanted them to act**

**Oh yes... a question for you to leave in the reviews; how much fluff would you like between Chihiro and Haku? Also, I don't know whether to call him Haku or Kohaku… He will be Kohaku in later chapters because I now have a plot!! (MUCH love to sheeta-33)**

**'_thinking'_**

**"speaking"**

**Doing**

**(A/N)**

**Dicsclaimer: I do not own any Spirited Away characters ;-;**

**Chapter 4**

**A Short Meeting**

* * *

When haku and Chihiro got outside Yubaabas doors the walk was silent, but not tense, they both seemed to be soaking in each other's presence.

"How long have you been here?" Haku asks curiously. "Since sundown" Chihiro answers, nodding to herself a bit.

"how long do you plan on staying?" Haku now asks. Chihiro paused to look at Haku, she didn't have much of a chance to earlier (A/N: she was in a daze.. because I wrote it that way) Haku had grown.. a lot. He was now 14. His hair was shorter, a little, and he looked stronger, although still bony… his clothes were different, but similar to his clothes from 2 years ago (im leaving it to you to imagine his clothes), and his voice was a bit different, deeper a bit.

"Ill only be staying for the summer," Chihiro says, glancing down, "I have school in the fall and my parents would worry after too long"

"I see," Haku answers, sounding a little disappointed "but well be together for the summer, right?" he now asks

"Of course!" Chihiro answers, looking up and smiling "and other breaks if I can.." she adds, although a bit quiet

"good, I'm glad" Haku replies, also smiling a bit now. By now they had both stopped walking, although they were still talking

A few minutes of silence had passed and Chihiro was about to speak, but soon realized Haku was hugging her. "Ko …ha... ku?" she slowly asked, her face getting pink

"I'm glad you're back. I couldn't go back, so I waited for you, hoping you'd remember. After a while, I figured you'd forgotten" Haku says

"I didn't forget!" Chihiro says, pulling back a bit "I never forgot. You, Rin, everyone!.. I remembered them. But I couldn't go because of school, and my parents" she says, looking down a bit

"I'm just glad youre back. Thank you" Haku says, smiling a bit. Making Chihiro nod and smile

"I hope im not interrupting anything" Yubaaba says, stepping out of the doorway. Making Haku and Chihiro stop hugging and take a small step apart

"Of course not" Chihiro says

"Good," Yubaaba says, smiling at Chihiro, she then looks at Haku, "when youre done, Id like to have a word with you" she says before leaving again to go find Bou

"We should, uh, get going now" Haku says, turning to walk again. "Yeah" Chihiro says and nods before following him.

Later

-------------------------------------------

Haku entered Yubaabas office and stood "you.. wanted to see me?" he asks

"ah, yes.. sit down" Yubaaba says, smiling a bit

* * *

**Yes I know. Short X-X give me time though..when im back therell be a long chapter, don't forgot to answer my questions!**


	5. Ch5 The Big News

**I'm back it was very fun too! Except the part where I got my wallet stolen by some 10 year old kid… I wanted to buy more Girl Got Game with it too TT –whine whine- oh wells**

**Thanks for the reviews everyone… and thanks so much for the patience! I haven't been updating very lately which makes me feel very horrible as a writer enter self-scolding here bad Milly… bad! –headkeyboard headkeyboard headkeyboard-**

**Thyrtf t rfbrt 6ry tttf yftfy r5rt6ryt ryfrtf 6yur6t erd 56ty**

**And yes…I'm done now**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away, but the shopkeeper coming later was from a spur of my imagination**

"**speaking"**

'**thinking'**

**doing**

**(A/N)**

**Chapter 5**

**The Big News**

* * *

Haku entered Yubaabas office and stood "you... wanted to see me?" he asks

"ah, yes… sit down" Yubaaba says, smiling a bit

Haku nodded and sat down, wondering what was going on

"I assume you heard about how long Chihiro will be staying…," Yubaaba says, half asking. Haku nodded. "Well then you know shell be leaving in about 2 months."

"Wait… two months? Is that how long their summer breaks are?" Haku asks, he didn't realize that at all

Yubaaba just nods "that's what Chihiro said." She says "and besides...at lest you'll get some time with her. _But,_ " she starts

After Yubaaba paused enough, Haku grew impatient "..yes?" he asks

"I didn't want to mention it before, but there _is_ a different way to go to the human world" Yubaaba says, smiling and laughing a bit

Haku blinked _' What… !' _he thought. He couldn't believe his ears, so he stood up. "Why didn't you tell me before!" he asked, now quite mad at Yubaaba

" Well why didn't you ask?" Yubaaba asked, crossing her arms. "I did!" Haku protests

"Oh…ha ha," Yubaaba says " Must've slipped my mind" she says, laughing "besides, why would I want to lose a good worker such as you?" she asks, raising an eyebrow

Haku opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself "this is beside the point.. How _do _I get back to the human world?"

Yubaaba paused "I'm not quite sure," she starts. Haku dropped his head in both anger and shame **(he was ashamed himself for thinking shed come right out and say it)**

"But, when I heard Chihiro had arrived I thought you'd ask about it again, so I looked into it. There are a few things, so Ill continue to look into it over the summer" Yubaaba says

Haku sighed of relief "will you update me?" he asks. Yubaaba blinked "I won't just _tell_ you... you'll have to ask" she says simply

"Now. Get going. Chihiro doesn't have to work until tomorrow" Yubaaba says, smiling

Haku says nothing for a moment. Then he just stands up "arigato" he says before leaving silently wondering where he'd find Chihiro

- In the Yuna resting place **(name?)** with Rin and Chihiro-

"good to have you back, kid," Rin says "we wondered if you'd come back" she says, laughing at a though that wasn't very relevant

Chihiro blinks at her laugh, but smiles "thanks."

"By the way, did Yubaaba tell you when you started?" Rin asks

"Nope" Chihiro says, shaking her head "should I go ask?" she asks Rin. But Rin shakes her head, "if you don't have a time you don't have to I guess" she shrugs

"alright" Chihiro says , wondering what Yubaaba wanted to talk to Haku about. "Rin...where do you think I could find Haku?" she asks

Rin shrugs "He's always busy, I suggest you just look around" she says, before grinning "_why?_" she asks slyly

Chihiro blinks, not paying much attention "I haven't seen him in two years" she says. "you haven't seen me in two years either!" Rin says. "Yeah, but Ill be working with you. I don't know how often Ill get to see Haku" Chihiro says before wandering outside

-Somewhere in the wall of the aburaya-

"where would he be?" Chihiro asks herself '_maybe he's still with Yubaaba_' she thinks, looking around. She soon found a door that lead outside, it was dark, but she decided to just not go too far. When she came upon a hill she looked around, she could see the light of the train going through the ocean, and Kasuga-sama's getting off a boat. She could also see the small light that was in the pig pen.

Continuing on, she decided to cross the bridge and look around there. Quietly slipping by the foreman and greeters, she walked along the bridge, making sure not to bump into any spirits that were coming that way. She found the stand where he parents ate at and turned into pigs. The picture still freaked her out.

Continuing on, she seemed to find shops (just go along with me here). One of them imparticular grabbed her interest. It had clothes; kimonos, yukatas, fans, etc etc. _'its probably for spirits who want new clothes' _she tells herself, not being able to think of anything else as an explanation. She quietly wandered in, in awe at the beautiful clothes.

Looking around, she noticed a worker there. Though he was wearing a mask, so his face couldn't be seen well. He seemed to be staring straight at Chihiro. The mask has a smile on it, which made the worker seem very creepy. Chihiro shivered and looked away, looking at the clothes, but not touching them.

"A _human?_" The worker asks himself in half disgust "how'd _that _get here?" he asks himself again, before clearing his throat "Little girl!" he says louder

Chihiro's head snaps over "y...yes?" she asks, making her way over slowly

"how did you get here?" The worker asks (lets name him Takashi) "Humans shouldn't be here"

"I… I crossed the river" Chihiro answers, gulping a bit as Takashi came nearer

"Oh? Well what are you doing here in my shop?" Takashi asks, his voice was almost like a snakes, making some letters longer and stretching it out.

"Well… the clothes are so beautiful, I-I wanted to look" Chihiro says

"I know they're beautiful, but I suggest you leave before I take your hair and use it as threads" Takashi says coldly

Chihiro jumped and yelped a bit "I'm sorry!" she says and bows before quickly leaving.

Once outside, she sighed heavily '_curiosity killed the cat_' she tells herself, making her way back to the aburaya carefully.

On her way back, she stopped to look around on a hill hear the side of the bath house. Looking out into the ocean, she saw the other place where Zeniiba and No Face lived "I should visit them!" Chihiro tells herself "but when…? I don't know when I have to start"

Chihiro walked over the bridge and into the bathhouse, looking around for someone. Rin was working, so she couldn't talk to her, and she didn't know where Haku was.

"Sen! Sen!" Bou yells, bounding towards Chihiro happily "Hi Sen!"

Chihiro turns around in surprise "Hi Bou!" she says happily "you've gotten bigger over the last two years" she says, looking over the still large little kid

"I know!" Bou says proudly, before looking at Chihiro "Do you wanna play with me?" he asks curiously

Chihiro blinks "Well... actually... I was sort of looking for Haku. Do you know where he is?" she asks

Bou looked disappointed at first, but figured he'd ask again later "Haku? Lemme see…" he says, thinking to himself "Last time I saw him he was talking to mama about-" he pauses, remembering he shouldn't tell her "something" he says "and then he went to look for you"

"oh… thanks!" Chihiro says, wondering why he paused

"Sorry I couldn't help you! Good luck finding him!" Bou says and waves before running off to go find spirits or yunas to entertain

* * *

**I hope that was long enough!**

**Arigato-thank you**

**Aburaya- the bathhouse**

**Yunas- workers of the aburaya**

**Kasuga-sama- Gods who came to aburaya in a group by boat. They wear strange masks and Sokutai**

**Yukatas and kimonos- robe type things (yukatas-males, kimonos-females) **


	6. Ch6 Planning It Out

**Thanks everyone SO MUCH for staying patient… my mom crashed our computer when she tried to install something and it was just put back up today (thanks to my dad)**

**I have an idea! And it's good to ;)**

**I should have an editor!… not only do you get to read the chapter ahead of time. but you can say if it needs to be longer and all that stuff… so if you're interested e-mail me and say why you should be my editor! tankee sai**

**I have a ploot!**

**Currently listening to: "Peaches and cream" by 112 and the Azumanga Daioh theme song**

**Bloom Flower-Thanks **

**Red-sakura-wolf- Ha ha….it's working : (what is?)**

**MaNgA-bOy-LoVeR- OO Woah now….inhale, exhale :**

**Remembrall- Yay! Why does your name sound so familiar?**

**Jessica- hmm… I do need a plot for this... I'll take that into consideration!**

**Disclaimer: I did not make Spirited Away or any character from it (except takashi… and ones ill make later)**

**Profile: Takashi**

**Brown hair, green eyes, dragon spirit, takes form of a human. Yellow yukata with green symbols.. He almost sounds like a snake**

**Chapter 6**

**Planning it out**

* * *

**After Chihiro had left the shop**

Takashi decided to close shop early, along with another shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper walked in. He had black hair with blue streaks, and blue eyes you could get lost in, it looked almost spiked **(like Haru from Rave Master) **and was wearing a blue Chinese shirt **(if you have no clue what im talking about go here: ****www .redt reasurebox .com/rtb/ima ges/graphic s/D5042al l.jpg** and black pants "hey. So, why did you call the meeting?" he asks, some hair falling over his left eye

"because…" Takki starts "it seemsss we have a human with ussss at the aburaya" he says, smirking a bit "and you know what that meansss"

Sano grins "I do. yes" he says , "we should probably tell Akina though" he says **(Akina- bloomed flower or something near that)**

"Tell me what?" a smooth voice rang out. A woman with long silver hair in a pony tail, and bright blue, almost metallic eyes asked, walking in. she was wearing a form fitting, blue and silver Chinese dress and strappy sandals, high like high-heels. **(if you don't know what im talking about for the dress, look on google)**

"ahh… Akina, how nice of you to grace us with your presence" Sano says, half-joking

"you're late" Takashi hissed, causing Akina to give the shocked and innocent look. "Excuse me. If sano hadn't told me 5 minutes before the actual meeting I wouldn't have been late"

"5 minutes is plenty of time to fly over here!" Sano says.

Akina growls "If I go to fast my hair tangles"

Sano just smirks "you shouldn't worry about that stupid stuff"

"well you shouldn't be such an idiot, but it cant be helped for both cases" Akina shot back

"oh yeah?" "yeah" "oh yeah?" "yeah!" "oh yeah?" "yeah!" "Oh ye" "will you two just shut up?" Takki yells, interrupting Sano's 'oh yeah?' comment

Akina sits down on a chair "now. Again.. tell me what?" she asks

"We've got a human at the aburaya," Sano says "she looks young too.. pre teen id guess"

Akina got wide eyed, then squealed "really! A human!" she asks, sounding over-joyed, "I love humans!" she says happily, then starts rambling on and on

Sano and Takki were prepared, plugging their ears ahead of time "yes really" they both said

Akina smiles "I love humans. They have so much energy and they're nice if we don't eat them. Or kidnap them" she says, still smiling "Oh! It is a girl?" she asks

"Yesss.. a cute one at that" Takki says, recieving another squeal from Akina

"yay!" she says and jumps up "I volunteer to do the job!" she says

"we thought you would. And you know exactly what to do, right?" Takki asks "after all, you've had this job 4 timessss before" he says

"Of course silly!" Akina says smiling and laughing, tossing a little hair off her shoulder so it hung with the rest of the pony tail behind her back

"hmm.. but never at this Bath house, they were different ones all the time" Sano says, thinking about it

"Yes. BUT, if the other four were easy, why can't this one be?" Akina asks "besides, were prepared for anything"

"youre right. Now, Akina; go get sssome sssleep and tomorrow morning I want you to go ssssee Yubaaba. Ssssano; you should ssleep too, you have a shop," he says "and I do. And Im tired, sso you two better leave" he says

"what kind of hospitality is that?" Akina asks, sounding offended but leaving "but don't worry.. ill have in a few days" she says, smiling and waving, leaving

**The next morning (around noon to one)**

Akina walked out of the shop sano had. She stayed there that night. She was wearing the same thing, and walking across the bridge, shooting seductive looks at the greeters. She just smiled and continued walking, her hips swaying.

As she walked through the place she got many stares, going up the elavator, she encountered many spirits and just smiled, making small talk. As she got to the top floor she looked around before walking up to yubaaba's door and knocking it.

Within a minute, she was pulled into yubaabas office and was greeted by the 3 heads

"What do you want?" Yubaaba asks, not even looking up

"A job" Akina says simply

"a job? Why would something as young as you want a job here. Needless to say you could get a job anywhere if you wanted." Yubaaba says, looking up

"that may be so, but I want to work here, for personal reasons" Akina says, looking around

"that's not a good reason" Yubaaba says, looking back down to all her stuff

Akina noticed that just asking wouldn't be enough, so she just blinks "Look. Cant I just work with the yunas until I prove myself worthy?" she asks

"fine. But mess up once and you're out" Yubaaba says, making a contract fly over "sign it" she says

Akina nods, recieving a pen. She signs it with her real name and gave it back

Yubaaba reads it "so, your name's Akina, huh?" she asls

Akina nods "Well, now your name's 'Kohana'" **(Kohana-little flower, instead of Akina- bloomed flower or something like that)**

"Kohana?" Akina asks **(ill keep it at that, but if you get confused tell me)**

"yes." Yubaaba says, sending Haku up **(how? Don't ask)**

"You wanted to see me?" Haku asks upon entering

"yes. This is your newest employee, she will work with Rin and Chihiro" Yubaaba says, pointing to Akina "take her to them"

Haku nods and turns around "follow me" he says before walking out, Akina following

"So, your name's Haku, huh?" Akina asks, walking beside him

Haku nods "yep"

"cool! Nice to meet you! My name's Aki-I mean, Kohana" Akina says, smiling "so…. What do you do?" she asks

"I run errands for yubaaba" Haku says, looking over at her

"ooh! Like a henchman?" Akina asks

"no,. not anymore" Haku says, going down those wooden steps down to the place where the yunas and foremans drink and such "where's Rin and Chihiro?" he asks one of the foreman

"They're both in the room" one of the formean says

Haku nods, and turns to go to the room place.

Upon entering, you could see that Rin was just sitting there, staring at the railroad tracks, as Chihiro sat on the deck type thing, her legs dangling and her arms laced around the wood "ooh.. is that them?" Akina asked, pointing to them, causing them both to look back

"Hey haku! You should've asked to come in, what if we were getting dressed?" Rin asks, looking back

Chihiro just looked back "Hi Kohaku! …. Ooh, who's that?" she asks Rin, who just shrugs

"Well at this time you both should be awake and dressed Rin" Haku says, looking at them

"Whatever. But still, what kind of manners is that?" Rin asks, giving him a hard time

"This is you two's new partner, Kohana. Get her cloths and a bed and she should be good to go" Haku says before leaving

"Where's the goodbye?" Rin yells "Where's your manners?" she yells at him

Akina just blinks and walks over to Chihiro "hi!" she says and smiles "whats your name?" she asks happily

"my names Chihiro. Nice to meet you Kohana" Chihiro says, her and Rin were wearing the pants and apron, but not the shirt, since they weren't working right now

"I'm Rin" Rin says from the closet with all the extra blankets and outfits and etc "this looks like it'll fit ya" she says and throws the clothes at Akina "you can have your bed tonight"

"alright. Thanks!" Akina says and smiles "and don't worry about me, Ive worked at a both house before" she says "So, Chihiro. How long have you been here?" she asks

"well, I got here yesterday" Chihiro answers

"only a day?.. you seem like you're in the swing of things" Akina says, sounding confused

"well yeah, but I was here for a while last year too" Chihiro explains

"Ooohhh," Akina says "so how old are you?" she asks

"Twelve. My birthday isn't until the fall" Chihiro answers

"Man!" Rin says unhappily from inside now "I was hoping we'd be able to celebrate!" She says

"Don't worry about it Rin! Being here is enough of a present" Chihiro says greatfully

"why this dump?" Rin asks "there nothing he—ooooohhhh!" she says before grinning widely "I get it"

"get what?" Akina asks, now even more confused

"Nothing! Its nothing!" chihiro says, not wanting her to automatically know the details about her and Haku

"Aww… I cant tell her?" Rin asks "that's no fun" she says, drossing her arms

"tell me what?" Akina asks

"No, not yet Rin. And don't worry about it Kohana, its not that important" Chihiro says

"Hey you guys!" A yuna says, coming in "time to get ready for work" she says

"alright" Rin says getting up

"already?" Chihiro asks, also getting up, and putting the top shirt on, Rin too

"guess so. Hey Kohana, hurry up and change.. well wait for you outside" Rin says, leaving with Chihiro

"Okay! Be done in a minute!" Akina says and smiles as they left and began changing, wondering what theyd have to do today

* * *

**Alright… its 2am and I figured it was a good stopping point here. Thanks SO MUCH for your patience and ill update real soon, my brain is swimming with ideas!**

**Review? Please?**

**And don't forget the editor offer! I need one badly!**


	7. Ch7 Why?

**I know, I know, I waited a while. But I wanted to pick my next editor!**

**And I found one:DDD her name is NitenGale! Hoyea, I just hope she is prepared for me ;**

**Disclaimer- I do not own spirited away, but Akina, Sano, and Takki are MINE! Though I got the name for takashi from a friend (happy jii-chan?)**

**Anywho.. I tweaked the plot A TINY bit.. but all the stuff that's happened is still needed and in the previous chappies thankee sai**

**Anyways.. time to reply!**

**Shamanbabe- what thank ya!**

**The Griminus- OO Holy cow! Eat before you keel over or something! .;**

**Bloom flower- there is! Where? –searches frantically-**

**NitenGale- I hath e-mailed you already **

**InuLuvr18- Don't worry! I will  
Raining Blood Red Moon- thankee sai**

**Kytara- Jii-chan! –le glomp- **

**Jessica R- ogodogodogod, I forgot about this DD: THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEW TO REMIND ME!**

"**talking"**

'_**thinking'**_

**doing**

_**flashback type stuff.. sometimes song lyrics**_

**(A/N)**

**EN's were in blue. But theyre for me to fix my crap, so its likely you wont see them :P**

* * *

**Chapter 7****Why?**

"So, Chihiro, where are you from?" Akina asked as they went to their tubs to start work.

Chihiro thought a minute, "I'm not really from around here," she said, walking next to Rin.

"Let's see, they said we only needed to clean the smaller tubs," Rin mumbled, looking for the one they were assigned to. "Here it is!" she announced, dragging Akina and Chihiro into the room.

"Hey Rin, why is there more than one bath in this one?" Chihiro asked, looking at it.

"Because these types of rooms are for Ootori-sama's," Rin answered before looking at Akina. "Go get a regular bath token," she instructed, stopping her from asking Chihiro a million questions.

"Okay," said Akina simply, leaving to get the requested bit of wood

One she left, Rin looked at Chihiro. "She's really talkative."

"I think she's nice. Maybe a little curious, but nice," Chihiro said as Akina returned.

"Alright, now put it in the wall slot to send to Kamajii" Rin said, crossing her arms.

"Ok—hey! Why am I doing all the work?" Akina asks, looking at Rin, hands on her hips.

"Because you're the new girl, besides, Chihiro and I are scrubbing the tub" Rin said, climbing in to join Chihiro "Anyways, on Chihiro's first day she was fine."

"Riin! I need help!" Chihiro yelled, poking her head out.

"Alright, sorry! I'll start on the other tub. Kohana, you get the last one" Rin instructs, getting a bundle of rope and going to another smaller bath.

"Okay, okay!" Akina said and sighed, putting the bath token in the wooden slot and pulling down on the rope. The token went down lightly, before shooting up into the darkness. A few moments later, the large water slope came down with the rope.

Chihiro climbed out of a bath. "This ones done!" she said, pointing to it.

"Alright! I'll fill it up." Akina said, nodding.

"CHIIIHIIIIRRROOOOO!" came a loud yelling, accompanied by loud thudding, which grew rapidly louder.

"Eh?" Chihiro asked, looking around. "Wait! I know that voice, it's Bou!" she said and looked around for him.

Bou soon bounded on in and over to Chihiro. "Hey Chihiro, guess what?" Bou asked sounding excited. Chihiro saw Yu-bird, still small, buzzing around Bou's head.

"What?" Chihiro asked, patting the mini yu-bird's head for a moment.

"Mama said you could play with me today!" Bou explained happily.

"That's great Bou, but I have to work" Chihiro said, "I couldn't leave Rin and Kohana by themselves."

"Go on. Have some fun!" Rin said, smiling and climbing out of the large tub she was helping Chihiro with . "You won't get many opportunities."

"Are you sure?" Chihiro asked.

Akina and Rin nodded.

"Alright. Thanks guys!" Chihiro said.

"All riiight! Come on Chihiro!" Bou said happily, grabbing Chihiro's hand and bounding off.

Chihiro's hand slipped, but she followed Bou, running.

Bou was whizzing past yunas and formen. He even ran past Haku. "Hii Hakkuuuu! See you later!" he yelled, running.

Chihiro soon followed, only waving at Haku, as she didn't have any breath to spare.

Haku just stopped, confused.

----------------------Bou's room----------------

Once up in Bou's room, they sat down, Bou on his pillows, Chihiro on a giant chair. Chihiro just looked around, it hadn't really changed at all. Bou had toys for toddlers now, since he was almost three.

"So Chihiro, how come you came back?" Bou asked, messing around with a stuffed

pig.

Chihiro paused a minute "Well one of the reasons is because I missed all of you guys!" she said.

"There's another reason?" Bou asked.

Chihiro nodded. "This place, from the first glance, somehow reminded me of my grandma."

"Your grandma?" Bou asked, a puzzled look on his face.

Chihiro nodded. "My grandma runs a shrine. Before I moved, I'd visit her every weekend, sometimes every day. She always had things for me to do, and she owned a lot of land, so I could run around if I wanted. There were flowers everywhere, and she believed that everything had a purpose, a spirit, and a story behind it's name or how it came to be," she said, seemingly lost in her own world, daydreaming of her days as a child at her grandmother's house.

--flashback--

"_Grandma! Grandma!" a five-year-old Chihiro yelled, her hair in two pigtails, running towards an old woman at the entrance of a shrine. She had grayish-black hair tied up in a bun, secured by two chopsticks. She was wearing a light purple kimono._

"_Hello Chihiro," the woman smiled, hugging Chihiro. "How have you been?"_

"_Just great Grandma! Earlier today we went to the park and I got candy, and . . . " Chihiro said, continuing to tell her grandmother about her day._

_They went inside for tea. Of course, Chihiro added lots of sugar and honey to hers. "Grandma," Chihiro said, setting down her cup, "can I go play in your garden?"_

_Chihiro's grandmother smiled. "Of course Chihiro, but be careful of my flowers. And do watch out for my statues, you never know what you'll find" she warned._

"_I will, thank you!" Chihiro smiled, getting up and putting her shoes on before running out the door._

_Wandering around outside, Chihiro followed the path into the garden. Her grandmother's garden had flowers of every kind, growing far above her head. She loved playing in it. Going off the path, she laid down in the flowers, staring up at the sun, surrounded by snapdragons, daisies, columbines, Lilies, sunflowers, orchids, daffodils, carnations, irises, and Violets. Every flower imaginable was there, meaning every color was there too._

_After a while, Chihiro wandered back onto the path and went left at a fork in the road. As she followed it, the flowers thinned out, and when she brushed past them, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked around. There were rose bushes forming a circle around another path and she could see statues everywhere. In the center of the round path was a fountain._

_The statue in the fountain looked like a fairy. Though she was silver colored, you could tell she was supposed to be painted blue; the paint had faded. But her blue eyes seemed to stare directly into your soul as she smiled peacefully. Water fell around her, making it look like she was standing in a waterfall. "Whoa," Chihiro said, mesmerized by the statue. _

_Ignoring the water, Chihiro went up to the statue and touched her face, stroking her cheek. Although she was metal, she seemed so soft. Drying off her hand, Chihiro got out of the fountain and looked around. There were more fairy statues of all kinds and statues of all sorts of mythical creatures._

Following the path further, she stepped into _another garden. There weren't any statues around this one. But in the center there was a huge fountain, the size of a children's pool in circumference. In the center was a dragon. The dragon was a silvery white, long, slender, and it had a green mane running all the way down its back. On its head were two horns behind its ears. On it nose were two long whiskers, protruding out of the sides of its nose. The colors were worn, but still there. Water came out of its head, trickling down the dragon's back and falling from random places._

"_Chihiro!" Chihiro heard a voice calling her name. It was her grandma. Chihiro turned around to see her—_

In that instant the flash back was over. "Chihiro?" Bou asked, trying to get her back from wherever she thought she was.

"Oh, sorry Bou. I was just daydreaming," Chihiro apologized.

"It's alright. But that sounds pretty," Bou said, stars in his eyes. "But what happened to your grandma and her shrine?" he asked, quickly coming out of his own daze.

"She passed away. That's why we moved," Chihiro said. "My mom didn't want to have to remember her. So we moved to our new house," she said.

"Oh," Bou said, then smiled. "Well we're gonna see Granny today so you can be happy!"

"Alright," Chihiro smiled. "But how will we get there?" she asked.

* * *

**alright… I know I haven't been on in forever but it's the summer for me now.. so hopefully ill be able to roll out more chapter. Longer and faster too!**

**Thanks so much for the patience everyone(especially since I didn't have anyone yell at me -so happy- :3 toodles!**


	8. To Grandmothers House We Go

**WHEEEE! Okay, this chapter is up and rolling. I understand you guys want more Chihiro and Kohaku stuff, but I wont have much in this chapter. Later, when the stuff starts to take place, there'll be a few fluffy moments, and maybe a lime (keyword: MAYBE) :DDDDDDDD.**

**MAAAAAN! I LOVE REPLYING TO REVIEWS : Poop.**

**Currently Listening to: "feel Good Inc" By Gorillaz 33 (yes, from the ipod commercial) and "I'm really, really hot" by Missy Elliot.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Spirited Away Characters, but I DO own Akina, Takashi, and Sano.**

"**Speaking"**

'**_Thinking_'**

**Doing**

_**Flashback or whatever**_

**((A/N))**

**E/Ns are in blue, but you might not be special enough to see them. :P**

**Chapter 8**

**To Grandmothers House We Go**

* * *

Chihiro sat in the train on the way to Zeniiba's. She looked around and Bou entertained the other guests. _'Last time I was on this, I was going to give Granny her seal back, and to apologize for Kohaku,' _she thought.

Smiling to herself, Chihiro then thought of her parents. '_I wonder how they're doing. I'm sure Dad's happily working, but what about Mom? She usually stays home and takes care of me. Well, I guess that won't be a problem, now that they have Yumi.'_

Looking over, Chihiro saw Bou still entertaining passengers. She then looked out the window, ahead as far as she could. They had just recently gotten on the train. Bou had somehow gotten tickets, but Chihiro had no idea how.

'_And No Face! I'm sure he's having fun with Zeniiba,' _Chihiro thought. She sighed as they came upon the third stop.

-----Last Stop-----

"Bou," Chihiro said. "Wake up, Bou, we're here."

Bout sat up, still a bit dazed. "We're where?" he asked.

"Zeniiba's cottage." Chihiro answered as Bou got up.

Bou stretched and smiled. "Alright! Let's go!" he yelled happily, running out.

Chihiro followed. "Bou wait!" she yelled, but caught up after a while.

They ran past the lamp at the entrance and followed the path up to the cottage.

"Niiba's house! Niiba's house!" Bou yelled as they came up to it. They stopped and knocked on the door.

A short time later, No Face opened the door and looked at Bou and Chihiro. Moving aside, he let them in.

"Hi," Chihiro smiled, walking past No Face. He closed the door and looked at them.

Zeniiba soon entered from the other room. "Hello Bou, welcome back," she said, then noticed Chihiro. "Chihiro, you're back!" she smiled and went to hug Chihiro.

"Hi Granny," Chihiro said and looked at her. "Of course I'm back. I couldn't forget," she said and motioned towards the purple hair tie in her hair.

"So you still have it. I'm glad," Zeniiba smiled. "Come, come! Kaonashi and I were just about to have some tea," she said as No Face went to get the tea kettle. **(Kaonashi literally means "No face", so don't get confused .; )**

Bou walked in, Chihiro following him. They went over to the table and sat, Bou helping himself to some cookies. "These cookies are good, granny!" Bou said.

"Thank you, Bou," Zeniiba, taking a seat near Chihiro as Kaonashi came out with the tea. He poured them all cups and sat as they talked.

-------Meanwhile-------

"I'll be back soon!" Akina smiled, running out.

"Hey, wait!" Rin called, looking over. "Where are you going?"

"The bathroom." Akina lied, exiting.

She ran out, across the bridge, and into the store that sells yukata's, kimonos, and everything else of the sort. Takashi and Sano were already waiting for her. "You're late," Sano said, looking at her.

"Hey! I've got a job now. What do you want me to do?" Akina asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"You could at leassst be on time," Takashi said coldly.

"Alright, alright," Akina sighed. "Now, moving on. How is everything going?" she asked.

"We're almost ready. Meaning, you should get to know this human better before you take her," Sano said, crossing his arms.

"Can do," Akina nodded.

"We'll call you back when we're ready," Takashi said. "In the meantime, you can go."

"Do I have to?" Akina whined. "Work is so boring right now!"

"Yes." Sano said, looking as if it were obvious.

"Fine," Akina sighed, leaving.

-------Ze Next Day------- **((yes, it was QUITE intentional w))**

Chihiro quietly entered the room. They had just gotten back from Zeniiba's, so she figured she'd relax before work. She tiptoed across the room and was almost to her bed when she heard, "Chihiro?"

Chihiro looked around and saw Akina on the porch. "What are you doing up?" Chihiro asked.

"Oh, I got plenty of sleep already," Akina started, "so I'm not tired. You look like you are though."

"Not really. I got some sleep on the train," Chihiro smiled and sat next to Akina.

"Chihiro, I've been meaning to ask you about something," Akina said warily, looking over.

Chihiro smiled and looked over. "Yes?"

Akina looked forward and down sheepishly. "You're a human, aren't you?"

Chihiro knew humans weren't the best in their world, so she wasn't sure if it would affect their friendship. "Yeah. Why?"

Akina smiled. "Oh, no reason! I was just curious!" she beamed, going back to her usual bubbly self.

Rin's eyes slowly opened and she heard Chihiro and Akina talking. She stayed silent, listening.

"So, why ARE you here?" Akina asked.

Chihiro paused and sweat dropped. "Oh, I have my reasons," she said, changing the subject. "Why are YOU here?"

"I have mine too," Akina smiled, swatting her hand in front of her as if to say 'shoo.'

Rin sat up and yawned loudly, making sure her presence was known. "What time is it?" she asked dazed, looking around.

"Still early enough to have time to mess around for a while before having to clean," Akina answered, smiling.

"Good Morning, Rin!" Chihiro smiled brightly, looking at her friend.

"I should get us some food," Rin said, stretching again.

Chihiro jumped up, "I'll get it! I'm awake and pretty restless."

Rin was still fairly dazed, she yawned again. "Alright then."

Chihiro quickly changed back into her work uniform and walked out. _'I wonder if I'll see Kohaku today.' _she thought, _'I came here to see him and Rin, but I haven't seen much of him at all. But, Did he even miss me?' _When Chihiro thought that, she thought of the first day she returned.

_Before Chihiro knew it, she was in Kohaku's arms "Ko . . . ha . . . ku?" she slowly asked, her face getting pinker by the second._

"_I'm glad you're back. I couldn't go back, so I waited for you, hoping you'd remember. After a while, I figured you'd forgotten" Kohaku said quietly._

Chihiro snapped out of her daze to see Kohaku standing right in front of her. "Why is your face so red?" he asked, slightly laughing.

Chihiro blinked and turned away. "N-no reason, I'm just hot. Yeah! So, I'm going for a walk. I'm also supposed to get food for me, Kohana, and Rin." Once she thought her face wasn't as red she turned around and smiled.

"Alright," Kohaku said, slightly smiling. "Mind if I tag along?"

"No! Please do," Chihiro said, and started walking with Kohaku to get food.

Just like the last time they walked together, silence hung between them.

"So, um, what have you been doing lately?" Chihiro asked, trying to start a conversation.

Kohaku looked back. "Same old thing. Just running small errands for Yubaaba," he shrugged.

'_I wonder of Kohaku is still Yubaaba's henchman.' _Chihiro wanted to ask, but even thinking about it made her uneasy. The thought lingered in her mind though.

The two got food and Chihiro went into the Yunas' Room to give it to Rin and Akina. "I, uh, need some fresh air. So, I'll be back before we have to start working," she waved, walking out.

"Think she's lying?" Rin asked, suspicious.

"No doubt," Akina said, taking a big bite of the rice.

'_Where'd he go?' _Chihiro thought, but shrugged, not seeing Kohaku. She started walking up the stairs to the main level. She went out of the bathhouse to go sit on a hill. It was about noon or one o'clock, so the sun was out and there was a slight breeze. "What a nice day!" Chihiro smiled and told herself, sitting on the green grassy hill.

Chihiro laid back on her back against the grass, watching the clouds. She watched shapes go by, feeling calm and relaxed.

Kohaku seemed to appear out of nowhere. He looked at Chihiro, causing her to sit up as he sat down next to her. "Sorry," Kohaku said. "I had to do something."

Chihiro nodded as she sat up "It's fine," she smiled._ 'I should ask'_ she thought, feeling uneasy again, worried about the answer.

'_Go on, ask!' _Chihiro mentally cheered herself on. _'But, what if he is still her henchman? Then what would I say? "Okay"? No, no, no. I just can't ask.' _

"Kohaku." Chihiro said, speaking without even realizing it.

Kohaku looked at Chihiro. "Hm?"

'_Now I have to say something,' _Chihiro mentally sighed. "Umm..."

Chihiro looked forward and down, fumbling with her hands. Kohaku just looked at her.

"Are you still Yubaaba's henchman?" Chihiro asked suddenly.

Kohaku paused. _'I didn't tell her?' _he thought. "No, I quit a few days after you left." he answered.

"You didn't get in trouble or anything?" Chihiro asked, still looking down.

Kohaku smiled slightly. "No, it was my choice. I still run errands, just, not those kinds."

Chihiro nodded and looked at Kohaku after a minute she leaned against him. "I'm glad."

Kohaku put an arm around Chihiro as another small gust of wind washed over them.

* * *

**I loved writing this 3333**


	9. Night Flower

**I feel like I'm on a roll. I just got home and was like "fanficfanficfanficfanfic"**

**So, yeah. There!**

**It's kind of hard getting Kohaku's personality right, since he was all quiet and stuff in the first movie, but I think/hope I understand most of it.**

**No replying to posties TT**

**Listening to "thriller" by the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson 3**

**And Harry Belafonte, and "complainte De la butte" by Rufus Wainwright**

**_'Thinking'_**

"**Speaking"**

**Doing**

_**Flashback/whatever**_

**((A/N))**

**E/N's are blue, but you never see them**

**Chapter 9**

**Night Flower**

* * *

All was silent in the bathhouse as day approached them once again. Everyone was sleeping. Everyone except for Rin, Akina, and Chihiro -who were walking- back to their room to catch some sleep.

'Geez,' Rin whined mentally. 'Kohana over there has been bugging Chihiro all night.' She shot a look towards Akina as if to say, 'Don't you ever be quiet?'

Akina got it. "What? I'm just trying to get to know my new friend," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I don't blame her," Chihiro piped in. "I wouldn't want to work with someone I didn't know very well."

"Fine, fine. Just get some sleep tonight," Rin sighed, defeated.

" 'Kay." Akina and Chihiro chimed in unison.

Chihiro, Rin, and Akina walked into the quiet room. Yunas had lain down and were asleep, dreaming peacefully. The three took of their main work shirts and lay down, the day's weariness finally catching up with them. Chihiro was out like a light, off in a dream.

Rin stayed awake. "Hey, Kohana. Sure, you're curious, but aren't you going a bit too much into Chihiro's business?" she whispered to the young looking girl. She had her long black hair back and closed her eyes.

Akina opened one eye. "Why?" she whispered. "I'm curious about her. I mean, she's human after all."

"That's not the only reason, is it?" Rin whispered suspiciously.

"You're hallucinating. You're tired. Go to bed," Akina said, rolling over and sighing.

Rin sighed and closed her eyes, falling asleep too, quite fast.

-------Later-------

"Akina. Akina," came a whisper from the wooden porch outside their room. "Come out here."

Akina groaned, quietly got up, and walked outside. "Yes?" she asked.

Sano, the man with the jet-black hair with blue streaks looked at Akina, almost in a scolding manner. Those soft blue eyes were hard and staring, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh? Did I do something?" Akina asked, smoothing out Sano's blue Chinese shirt in a sweet manner.

"Yes. You're taking too long. If you don't hurry, we'll have to wait another year for the sacrifice," Sano said quietly.

"Alright, alright. Just don't rush me," Akina sighed, crossing her arms. "You can expect her in the next couple of days."

"Good. We'll be waiting," Sano said, smirking. He turned into a long red dragon with blue eyes and a blue mane. Sano huffed and left, gliding away in the sky.

Akina went back to bed and collapsed, Exhausted.

-------Even later-------

"Wake up, you lazy woman!" Rin said, throwing a pillow at Akina, causing her to groan.

"What?" Akina whined, almost yelling.

"You don't get any days off. Now get up," Rin said.

Akina looked around and untied her hair, searching for a brush, "Where'd Chihiro go?"

"She's getting breakfast again today," Rin informed her, going out to sit on the wooden porch.

Akina tied her long black hair back into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way all day.

Rin didn't look over, but raised her voice so it could be heard. "So, Kohana, who were you talking to earlier? I heard something."

"What do you mean? I was asleep," Akina said, looking over at Rin nervously.

"Maybe I was hallucinating. Whatever," Rin sighed, dropping the subject.

Chihiro returned with three bowls of rice with other food in them; such as hot dogs that look like octopi, vegetables, etc. She handed the bowls to Rin and Akina.

Akina and Rin both took their food and started eating. Chihiro sat down on the wooden porch and watched as a train went by, eating her fill of breakfast.

Akina ate a little and set her dish down, taking the bowls back as Rin and Chihiro finished eating. She sighed, and then smiled to herself, a determined look on her face. "Tonight, we'll rock!"

"Time to get started!" Akina announced happily, bounding in through the doors again. She heard the Yunas groan and slowly get to work. Rin and Chihiro stood and put their top work shirts on, following Akina, who was skipping.

Rin, nudged Chihiro's arm and whispered, "What's wrong with Kohana?"

"Maybe she's sick?" Chihiro whispered, shrugging.

The three walked into the main room and talked with some Yunas before cleaning the floor, running back and forth with the cleaning cloths. Chihiro was getting better at it; she wasn't as slow, but still couldn't keep up with them.

They were assigned to a normal bath, so cleaning it was no problem.

Later, when all the customers were arriving, one in particular struck Akina's attention. _'Sano!'_ she thought as he walked in and looked at Akina.

Sano smirked. "Ah, Kohana, my good friend. I didn't know you worked here," he lied.

Akina nodded. "I just started," she said through gritted teeth. _'He better not,'_ she thought.

"Are these your friends? Lets not put them to work, I just want you," Sano smiled.

Akina was inwardly growling, "Of . . . of course."

Rin and Chihiro were fairly out of the loop, but didn't care as soon as they were dismissed. "Alright, see you! Have fun!" Rin waved and walked off, taking Chihiro with her.

"I hate you so much right now," Akina sighed as Sano sat in the bath, sinking low so only his eyes could be seen.

"Did you hear me?" Akina yelled, throwing a scrubber at Sano's head, causing him to blow bubbles in the water.

"Augh! Whatever, see you tomorrow," Akina said, also bailing.

"Bye! And don't forget," Sano said, pulling his mouth out of the water.

"Fine," Akina said, waving, walking out.

Rin and Chihiro were walking around, bragging about how they were dismissed. Or, Rin was, Chihiro was just following her, with the lack of anything better to do.

'_I'm sure Kohaku is doing things for Yubaaba. I mean, he's probably a really busy person,' _Chihiro thought, spacing out. '_Besides, I don't know what I'd say to him after yesterday.'_

"Bye! We'll be relaxing!" Rin bragged as they left, Chihiro following, but not watchingwhere she was going.

Chihiro bumped into someone, then bowed "I'm so sorry!" she said, then looked up to see Kohaku.

"Are you okay? Be careful," Kohaku said, looking at Chihiro and quickly changing the subject. "And why aren't you at work?"

Chihiro started babbling, in fear of being in trouble. "Well, um, see . . . Kohana knew the guy who had the tub we had to clean, so he said we didn't have to do anything, so Rin said that we were dismissed and we left but I don't know where she went," she said, then inhaled deeply.

Kohaku took a minute to comprehend it at that speed. "Okay," he nodded and smiled slightly. "Follow me, I want to show you something."

"Alright," Chihiro nodded, following Kohaku through Aburaya.

Kohaku opened two sliding doors to a small garden.

Chihiro looked at the garden. _'I remember this place,' _she thought. This was where Kohaku told her where she had to go to get to Kamajii's boiler room.

The garden had different flowers than the first time they were there, Chihiro had never seen anything like them! They were called Caryopteris's and they wouldn't bloom until nighttime. Chihiro was in awe at the flowers. They glowed a light blue color, attracting butterflies and other insects to drink the sweet nectar of the flowers. "Wow. They're so pretty!" Chihiro said, almost afraid to touch them, as if they'd crumble away under her hands be cause of their fragility. 

Kohaku picked up a flower that had somehow snapped off of the rest of the flower and tucked it behind Chihiro's ear, attracting a butterfly.

Chihiro blushed and smiled. She was new with relationships, so didn't know how to deal with it.

Kohaku leant down and looked straight at Chihiro. "You look adorable."

Chihiro got even redder. "I . . . I should go find Rin. She might be worrying," she said and went inside, mentally freaking out.

Kohaku stood up straight and smirked a bit, also going inside.

Chihiro returned to the Yuna's room and saw Rin. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," she said, her face not as red.

"Run into Haku? You're blushing," Rin said, turning to look at Chihiro.

Chihiro sat down and nodded. "I literally ran into him."

"And he was covered with flowers?" Rin asked, motioning towards the Caryopteris.

"No. He wanted to show me a garden with all those flowers in them," Chihiro said, blushing again.

"That's obviously not all that happened," Rin smirked.

Chihiro looked away stubbornly. "No, but that's all I'm going to tell you."

"Fine," Rin shrugged, looking forwards again.

-------Later-------

The Yunas slowly went inside, collapsing on the beds. "Today was really tiring for some reason," they all said, complaining to each other.

Akina returned. "That bastard," she growled, mentally plotting his demise. **(Pardon My French o3o . This is a PG-13 fic, right?)**

"Rough night?" Rin asked, turning to Akina, smirking.

"I don't want to talk about it," Akina sighed, lying down. "Good night."

"We should get to sleep, too," Rin said, standing and going to her futon. **(futons are those mats they sleep on, FYI)**

"Yeah," Chihiro agreed, going to her futon and laying down. She set the flower next to the mat and was soon asleep.

A few hours later, Akina silently arose and looked around. Everyone was asleep. _'Good,' _she thought. Lucky for Akina, she was next to Chihiro. Unlucky for Chihiro, she was a deep sleeper.

Akina quietly arranged Chihiro so she could make a quick move and not let it be detected. Akina took a handkerchief and tied Chihiro's mouth, making her awake slightly. Noticing it, Akina moved quickly and threw Chihiro over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, then jumped from the deck, quickly changing into her dragon form.

Chihiro sat up and looked around, freaked out. She was too high to jump off the dark blue dragon. W_hy won't the gag untie?'_ Chihiro thought in a panic. She inhaled and let out as loud of a muffled scream as she could, but it still wasn't loud. She just hoped someone would save her.

* * *

**More to come later 3**


	10. Chihiro, Kidnapped

**I've been trying to get these out a bit quicker. Is it working?** **(see bottom for explanation)**

**Of course, most of the credit goes to my wonderful editor 3 **

**She's so mean though just kidding xD **

**Its called constructive criticism, and it works, I think.**

**Currently listening to: lots of AMV songs.**

**I have no idea how many chapters there'll be; I'm kind of winging it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited away, but I DO own Takashi, Sano, Akina, and the people I'll introduce in this chapter.**

**'Thinking'**

"**Speaking"**

**Doing**

**Flashbacks/whatever else I want**

**((A/N))**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Chihiro, Kidnapped**

Chihiro awoke later that morning, groggy and sore; she had passed out some time during the way there, wherever _there_ was. Chihiro looked around, the room she was in wasn't in bad shape: it had a modern-day bed, a table with food set up, a pen and paper, it even has a small hand mirror. Only problem; there wasn't a visible door. However, the room was big, so she didn't feel cramped. "Is she awake?" a fairly light voice asked.

Chihiro's head whipped towards the sound. Sitting in the corner were four other people. The youngest was a girl who looked Chihiro's age. Two others, a boy and a girl, looked like they were in their teens, and the last person, a young man, looked to be around 20. "What's going on? Where am I?" Chihiro asked, confused and freaked out.

The youngest girl answered. "Umm, we're not exactly sure. We just know it's an island pretty far away from anywhere," she said. Though she looked Chihiro's age, her voice was much less mature than Chihiro's. The girl had blonde, curly hair that went to her lower back, and eyes as dark as night. She was wearing a plain, black kimono; they all were.

"They call it the shrine. It's where most dragon spirits live, this is just their sacrifice cell," the 20-year-old answered. He had black hair that fell over his oddly coloured purple eyes. **((think of an emo hair cut xD))**

Chihiro stayed silent, absorbing it all. Then it hit her. "Wait, sacrifice?" she asked, panicking.

"Yeah. You're the last one needed to sacrifice all of us." The female teenager said. She had brown hair and long black hair that went to her mid-thighs. "Thanks kid," she finished sarcastically.

"Shut up, Rin! She couldn't help it!" the youngest one said, defending the newcomer.

"I know, Kagura, shut up," Rin rolled her brown eyes at the preteen.

"There's no point in arguing," the other teenager said. He had fairly long brown hair that was tied back out of his green eyes and he looked like he was around Kohaku's age. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get out of it somehow."

Kagura crossed her arms. "You've been saying that the past five years."

"You've been arguing with Rin for the past five years, too," the one with the emo haircut, Akito, said, looking smugly at Kagura.

The teenager with the long brown hair, Hatori, looked at Chihiro as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Someone will come for us. I'm sure of it," Chihiro said, looking fairly determined "Someone will come looking for us."

"They stopped looking for us long ago. You, maybe, but not us," Rin said. "Besides, no one would care about us humans anyways."

"Don't say that!" Chihiro said. "There must be someone who cares about you in this world. I mean, that's why you're here, right?"

The other four got quiet. "For me, yes," Akito said. He then smiled weakly, saying nothing more.

"I ran away. This place is like heaven, compared to my home in the human world," Rin said simply, blowing bangs out of her eyes.

Hatori just said, "We should get going."

"Where can you go?" Chihiro asked, looking around for any doorknobs.

Each of the four prisoners went to wall or ceiling of the room. You had to push either of the walls to go to a different room. The door to Kagura's room was under a throw rug. A small latter fell to the floor revealing a small compartment in the ceiling where Rin's room was located. Hatori and Akito were to the left and right of Chihiro's room, which was shaped like a 'U'.

"Don't hesitate to come and see me." Kagura smiled kindly, pointing to the room in front of Chihiro's bed, "Your bathroom is in there."

"Uh, okay." Chihiro smiled as they all went to their individual rooms. '_This place seems like a maze,' _she thought, sitting down on her bed.

Only then did Chihiro notice the silk black kimono and fan on her red velvet chair. _'What a beautiful kimono! I guess that's my only change of clothes,' _she thought, stepping into her bathroom.

The bathroom was almost like a rainforest. There were hundreds of plants everywhere, and the bath was about 3 feet deep with a small waterfall. Hidden behind the plants in a corner was a fairly modern-day marble toilet.

Chihiro went to the bath, and laid the kimono next to it, making sure not to get it wet. Slipping in, she looked around. The only thing that convinced her that she wasn't in the rainforest was the lack of wildlife. It was humid in the room. She wondered if she had to water the plants. The only animals there were a multitude of butterflies, occupying the leaves of the higher plants. Using the waterfall to get her hair wet, Chihiro put her hair back up in the purple ponytail her friends wove for her, and got out. She quickly slipped into the kimono, since her work clothes dirty.

When she stepped back into her room, Chihiro jumped. Akina was sitting in the red and gold velvet chair. "What do you want, traitor?" Chihiro spoke boldly.

Akina blinked. "That's pretty tough talk for a little girl," she smirked. "Besides, if I told you want I wanted, it wouldn't be as fun in the end."

"Tell me about what? The sacrifices?" Chihiro asked, sitting down on her bed.

"Then you know that for you guys to be sacrifices, you've got a pretty nice room, so don't complain Chihiro." Akina said, crossing her legs.

"Don't say my name like you know me, Kohana," Chihiro steamed.

Akina got up and walked over to Chihiro, sitting down next to her, "But I do know you. I know you're a human, and why you're here. Our clan has been watching over you a long time. Oh, and by the way, my name is Akina."

Chihiro blinked and spun around on the bed, grabbing a pillow and burying her head in it. "Get out."

Akina stood and walked to the wall against Chihiro's bed. There was a door there, but this one had a keyhole. Akina pulled out a golden key with a small dragon on the end, with rubies imbedded in the eyes. "Your lunch is on the table. And don't worry, it won't kill you," she said as she left, locking it behind her.

Chihiro laid on her bed a while before going to see what the lunch was. The lunch consisted of a thick soup, a piece of bread, rice, and tea. "At least it's filling," Chihiro told herself, sitting down to eat.

-------Back At The Aburaya-------

Rin was walking through the whole bathhouse, looking for Chihiro (she didn't care much for Akina). "Where are they? This isn't some stupid game," she complained to herself.

Rin was walking into random rooms, asking if anyone had seen a little girl with a ponytail and an older one hiding anywhere. But no one had seen them, and if they had, it had been when they were with Rin.

The now frustrated Rin stomped to the very top level to look for Kohaku or Yubaaba. Spotting Kohaku walking down the hall, she ran to catch up to him. "Hey, Haku!" she called, running after him.

Kohaku turned and spun around hearing his name. "Rin?" he asked, looking back at her, wondering why she was chasing him.

Rin got to him and stopped, putting her hands on her knees and bending over to catch her breath. "Have you seen Chihiro?" she asked, regaining her composure and looking at him. "She's been missing since this early this morning. Kohana is gone, too, but you don't have to look for her."

"I haven't seen her since yesterday, you might want to ask Yubaaba or Bou," Kohaku answered, thinking that Bou might've taken her from work again, and Akina had just followed.

Rin nodded and turned to go back towards Yubaaba's office. She knocked on the doors and all the doors simultaneously opened, allowing Rin to walk through them all towards Yubaaba's office. "Chihiro's missing," Rin said, walking in as the doors closed.

Yubaaba looked up from her paperwork. "Oh, nonsense. She's probably with Bou or Kohaku," she replied

"Then explain why Kohana is missing, too," Rin shot back, placing her hands on her hips.

Yubaaba didn't look up. "Get to work. I'll take care of it, Rin," she said calmly, the door for Rin opening once again.

Rin paused, then sighed, quietly exiting. '_If she thinks I'm working by myself again, she's sadly mistaken.'_

But with the lack of anything else to do, Rin went back to work.

-------

"Haku!" Yubaaba called from her office, doing paperwork.

Kohaku entered soon after "Yes?" he asked, knowing he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

"No one has seen Chihiro since yesterday, so I'm sending you to go look for her or any sign of her," Yubaaba informed sternly, looking up from her papers.

Kohaku nodded. "Very well", he said, and left.

Soooo…. That's it so far xD

* * *

**Will Kohaku find Chihiro? Will Chihiro get sacrificed? Find out on the next, Days Of Our Li—the next chapter of Spirited Away: Returning Home.. I forgot the name of my fic for a moment.**

**And this took so long because my editor forgot.. or something. But its all good, right? …Right?**


	11. Captive

**Gah! I'm so sorry! I know you probably hate me for waiting so long!**

**I had major issues that wouldn't let me get online much.**

**School (evil)**

**grandpa had a heart attack (hes fine now (: )**

**Vacation**

**breaking my pelvis**

**spraining my break..**

**anyways!**

**-------**

Chapter 11

Running her hand over the wine red crushed velvet comforter, Chihiro sighed. Too many thoughts were running through her mind at this point. _Sacrifice? Sacrifice for what? And why do we have such nice rooms? Why doesn't anyone else seem to be upset about this? Is there a way out of this room? Will I ever be found?_

_I'm Scared…_

She sat on the large, queen size bed, taking in her surroundings. The room had a theme that reminded her of the outside somehow. There was wood and deep red, golden accents here and there. Her pillows, blanket, and sheets were all deep red, including the fabric on the chairs and tablecloths. Studying her bed frame, Chihiro looked in awe. Hand carved dragons wound up the wooden bed frame, rubies embedded in their eyes. "Wow…"

On the small wooden table in the center of the room, on top of the deep red table cloth, sat a brown vase filled with yellow hibiscus, red in the center. The corner opposite of the bed had a wooden desk, paper and ink on top. _Why would they give us that? _She thought, but the though returned that they wouldn't give them of this without a reason.

"Dinner time!" Akina stepped in the door, closing and locking the golden doorknob. "I hope you're hungry, it's good today." She smiled, walking over with a golden tray in her hands. She set it down on the table, revealing small strips of meat with cooked onions and peppers on top of rice, the gravy making it no longer white rice. Along with it came green tea and watermelon cubes.

"Not really." Chihiro said stubbornly, looking at the young woman who was wearing a blue and gold Chinese dress today, long black hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Pouting, Akina sat on Chihiro' s bed, crossing her long legs. "Come now. You're no fun anymore. What happened to make you so mean?"

"I'm not mean. You just kidnapped me a day ago!" Chihiro glanced back at her, sadness and anger in her eyes, though she didn't show it.

Standing, Akina decided her visit was long enough. "Oh, the word 'kidnap' sounds so bad, think of it as a vacation!" she smiled and laughed, walking out and locking the door from the outside now.

Chihiro grumbled slightly, not touching her food "Whatever." She crossed her arms

-------

**Supa Short I know but its something TT**

**DON'T HATE ME ):**


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